By Dan Tang
On Sunday, 12 Feb 2012, the Humanist Society (Singapore) celebrated Darwin Day 2012 at Onepeople.sg. That day was also extraordinarily special as for the very first time, our friends in Malaysia joined us to commemorate Darwin’s 203th birthday together along with two invited distinguished speakers. Altogether, around approximately 80 people turned up for this event. [Read more…]
By Dan Tang
On Sunday, 12 Feb 2012, the Humanist Society (Singapore) celebrated Darwin Day 2012 at Onepeople.sg. That day was also extraordinarily special as for the very first time, our friends in Malaysia joined us to commemorate Darwin’s 203th birthday together along with two invited distinguished speakers. Altogether, around approximately 80 people turned up for this event. [Read more…]
Did you know that there is a Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club in the Singapore Humanist Meetup circle? It started out in 2010 when Ryan started the first Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club on 14-September-2010 reading “Good Without God” by Grey Epstein.
A Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club event is an informal gathering of SHM members who are interested to discussing about a book suggested by the Singapore Humanism Meetup book club coordinators. Book genre can range from Humanist Literature, Philosophy, Science, Logical Thinking, humanist related fiction and many more. Each session is about 1.5 to 2 hours, and participants are usually limited to not more then 15 people to ease discussion.
The most recent one was held on 22-Jan-2011 and saw 8 participant from all walks of life, background and age group gathered together in a member’s home to discuss and debate about the book: The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Although initially scheduled for a 2 hour session, members talked long beyond 3 hours! There was not a single moment of boredom though out as the topic discussed where highly entertaining, highly amusing, and addictively engaging. But more importantly, it helps them think about the questions that most humanist encounter in their life, and to exchange and learn new perspective of how other humanist see the world.
Just a recap of what was discussed
To date, the SHM Book Club has successfully conducted 3 reading meetup:
In conjunction with Darwin’s Day falling on February 12, Singapore Humanism Meetup book club meetup #004 will be held on 26-Feb-2011 (Saturday) from 3pm – 5pm reading The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, or Darwin: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
The Origin of Species is also available as an ebook on Gutenberg. Stanza and other iPhone and Android eBook apps would have it for free.http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2009
Greetings!
It has been an amazing year for the Humanist Society (Singapore).
We have come a long way since we were gazetted as a society in October 2010. From the original founding 13, we have grown to more than 140 members. We have also organized some significant events such as the Winter Solstice, Darwin Day and the Humanist of the Year Award. Apart from these major events we have also successfully managed many smaller events such as Barbeque Night at the east coast, Evening at the Agora and Stargazing at Pulau Semakau. [Read more…]
This is a speech given by Catherine Lim upon receiving the Humanist of the Year Award 2011. Catherine is a well-known Singapore author who has published several books and political commentaries. The transcript is also published on her website and it describes her journey to become a humanist. [Read more…]
By Paul Tobin
The word “humanism” originated from the 15th century Italian term umanista – which meant a scholar of classical Greco-Roman literature and its underlying ethical philosophy. By the enlightenment during the 18th century, the word became linked with the concepts / ideals / life stance that we understand today as Humanism. These ideals include (1) the primacy of reason – that evidence, observations and experiment, and rational analysis have the form the grounding for our knowledge (2) a human centered ethics which is based on a spirit of compassions coupled with critical thinking and finally (3) a skepticism and rejection of the supernatural – that life can be happy and meaningful without recourse to superstitions and myths. [Read more…]
By Dan Dan
In the evening of 9 July 2011, a ethusiatic group of humanists and their loved ones stepped on Singapore first and only offshore landfill: Pulau Semakau! The island is incredibly clean and well facilitated, and a short introduction to this modern marvel left a deep impression on us. The team from The Astronomical Society Of Singapore (TASOS website) then gave us a short briefing on astronomy and the July night sky, raising our expectations. [Read more…]
By Dan Dan Thio
The third event organized by Humanist Society (Singapore), Darwin Day 2011, is a huge success with the biggest turnout yet!
Dr. John van Wyhe (above) debunked the false claims that Charles Darwin’s religious beliefs drift towards agnosticism was due to the lose of is favorite daughter Annie. By sharing with us Charles Darwin’s personal life, he shone a new light on the matter and brought us closer to understanding this scientific figure.
Yuchen (above) ended the series of talk with an entertaining and jaw-dropping presentation which has various photos of insects and their genitals, a video of fearsome sea slugs “penis-fencing”, and a humorous animation of “displacement of someone else’s semen”. In between laughs, he showed that sexual selection has much greater effect than natural selection on producing this diversified sexy animal kingdom.
The talk “What makes a scientific truth” by Dr. Mathia Lee is both courageous and intriguing. Dr. Mathia explained how scientific truths are skewed by social and economic reasons, and that we must remain skeptical and cautious with information even if it is from the scientific community.
After the talks, a raffle was drawn, and token of appreciations were give to the speakers. Then, the members and the public mingled altogether as two wonderful birthday cakes baked by our talented committee member, Sven, were distributed.
One depicts the Galapagos Islands and the other a birthday cake, coated with brightly colored coconut shreds, soft and fluffy, everyone took one or more pieces! Not forgetting the addictive fish-shaped cookies Denise helped to make! *nom nom nom*
The society also loaned out books related to evolution on this special day, such as “On the Origin of Species” by the birthday boy, and “The Greatest Show on Earth” by Richard Dawkins. Return them on time or you get fined!
NTU student Kenneth Lee found “the first speaker particularly interesting as it puts to question the reliability and accountability of modern science; a pillar which we have put so much faith in”.
Darwin Day 2012 is going to be bigger and better, watch out!
“What? Pikachu is evolving?”
The third event organized by Humanist Society (Singapore), Darwin Day 2011, was a huge success with the biggest turnout yet!
The first Humanist Society (Singapore) (HSS) get-together was held on the 28th of November, 2010, at Cashew Park Condominium. Despite the heavy downpour, around 40 eager members and interested participants came to meet fellow Humanists and to find out more about the HSS. Paul Tobin, President of the HSS, gave an overview of the society’s goals and objectives, emphasizing the role of the HSS in providing an organized platform for non-believers in Singapore. Future plans, which include participation in inter-religious forums and becoming a recognized member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) were also shared.
